The Marauders: A Tale From the Beginning
by Luv10885
Summary: What was Hogwarts like with the Marauders running around? The predecessors of Fred and George Weasley, this is the story of the most notorious troublemakers Hogwarts ever had. Join them on a journey through 7 years of learning, sneaking, love, adventure,
1. Eye of the Beholder

**The Marauders: A Tale From the Beginning**

_Chapter One: Eye of the Beholder_

The morning sunrise poked sharply at the fronts of James' eyelids. He mumbled incoherently, turning over.

"Get up, James. Come on, you'll be late," his mother said sweetly, pulling the covers from his limp body.

"Just a bit longer," James murmured.

His mother placed her hands firmly on her hips and said in a loud voice, "James Potter, you get out of that bed right now."

James opened one eye, peering up at her fuzzy outline. "Alright, mum, alright."

"Your breakfast is getting cold, so hurry," she said, her voice returning to its normally pleasant quality.

James waited until she had left his room before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He stretched, yawning loudly. He looked around. His things, which his mother had told him to pack the night before, were scattered everywhere. His wand was somewhere on his desk, which was piled high with comics, books about Quidditch, and clipped articles from the Daily Prophet; his new school robes, which he had gotten only the week before at Diagon Alley, were somewhere in the depths of his closet, as were his new school books. There were countless posters of his favorite Quidditch teams lining his walls and ceiling (you could hardly see the light pastel blue paint through them) and several of his figurines were zooming around above his head, a long-standing game of Quidditch obviously in progress.

James sighed, rubbing his eyes once more, picked his glasses up off his bedside table, and made his way downstairs.

His father was already at the kitchen table, his nose buried in the newest edition of the _Daily Prophet_.

"'Morning, Dad," James said, rounding the table and taking his seat. His mother had piled his plate high with eggs, sausage, pancakes, waffles, bacon, and all manner of breakfast foods. James, for the life of him, couldn't figure out why she always put so much food on his plate when she knew how little he actually ate. At 11, James was a scrawny boy with long legs and arms that hardly seemed to fit his body. He wore large spectacles, behind them shining dark brown eyes likes his father's. His hair was very unruly, never staying in place no matter what he or his mother did with it.

"Good morning, James," his father said, folding up the _Daily Prophet_ and smiling proudly at his son. "Are you excited about your first day at Hogwarts?" James shrugged, his mouth full of food, and his father grinned. "Of course you are. You're bound to make friends right off, son, so don't worry about that. And you'll have Dumbledore as headmaster so this year's bound to be exciting."

As his father rattled on, James nodded occasionally and mumbled. His father liked to talk and James liked to let him. Also known for changing subjects quickly, he went from Hogwarts to the Quidditch league finals to his last conversation with the Minister of Magic the week before. "He seemed right interested in what I had to say on the subject," he told his wife, who nodded and continued packing James' school things, which floated down the stairs in a tidy line, waiting their turn to be placed neatly in his trunk.

Twenty minutes later they were standing outside the Hogwarts Express, his mother hugging him in a tearful goodbye. His father stood proudly, his chest puffed out. He patted James on the shoulder, saying, "Show them at Hogwarts what the Potters are made of, James."

James nodded and grabbed his trunk in one hand, dragging it behind, and the cage of the new barn owl his parents had got him upon his acceptance to Hogwarts in the other. He lugged his trunk and his owl onto the train and began the exhausting task of finding a compartment that wasn't full of people. He found one near the back of the train with a boy who looked to be about his own age in it. He had short-cropped black hair and electric blue eyes and was looking out the window, a bored expression on his face. James entered the compartment, smiling. The boy looked up, his brow creased in curiosity.

"I hope you don't mind. It seems that everywhere else is just about packed full." The boy stared at him a moment more before smiling widely, revealing rows of perfectly straight white teeth.

"No problem. I was beginning to think I'd have to spend this entire blasted ride by myself." James dragged his trunk in, stowed it under his seat, and put his owl on the seat next to him.

"I'm James Potter," James said, extending his hand to the boy.

"Sirius Black," the boy said, taking James hand and shaking it enthusiastically.

"Black? Are you related to…"

"More than likely. But I'd appreciate it if you did me a great favor and didn't remind me," Sirius said, his eyes darkening. James nodded. "Nice owl you've got there. What's its name?"

"Well," James said, studying the owl himself, "he doesn't exactly have one yet. My parents just got him for me when I got my Hogwarts letter. I don't know. What do you think would be a good name for him?"

"Hmm. Well, it would have to be something elegant, with poise and sophistication. A very intelligent name. I've got it! Sirius! It's perfect!" Sirius joked. James laughed with him. "Seriously though? I think you should name him Pluto," Sirius said, looking the owl in the eyes. "He's darker than any barn owl I've ever seen, and looks like he's got some sort of secret or something there just behind his eyes."

"Alright," James said, liking the idea immediately, "Pluto it is!" They both laughed. The door to their compartment opened and they both looked up. A boy looked in and smiled. If James had ever thought himself skinny, it was nothing compared to this boy; he seemed to be made of nothing but skin pulled over bone. His eyes were sunken and a bit hollow. He had sandy brown hair to the tops of his ears and his robes appeared to be mended in some places.

"Hello." He greeted them in a quiet voice. "Everywhere else is…"

"Full, yeah, so we've been told," Sirius said. "Come on in." The boy looked relieved and dragged in a small trunk, also ripped in places, and pushed it under the seat he took beside Sirius.

"So, fellow, what's your name?" Sirius asked.

"Remus Lupin," the boy said softly.

"Well, Remus, I'm Sirius Black and the strapping lad across from you is one Mr. James Potter," Sirius said. James nodded at Remus, who smiled at him.

The train shuddered and pulled away from the station moments later. James and Sirius told them of the new name they had given James' owl. Remus laughed, and told them that he thought it was a wonderful name. A few minutes went by; the boys talked of Quidditch and their favorite teams, of their likes and dislikes, and of their families. Except for Sirius, who insisted that he'd rather eat a live rat than discuss his family.

"Really. I wish they'd just put me in an orphanage sometimes! Or give me a box and let me sleep on the street and beg for a few Bertie Botts Beans!"

"They can't be that awful, Sirius," Remus argued. Sirius slanted him a look.

"You'd be surprised." The witch with the food trolley came by and each boy bought several boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, some chocolate frogs, and a few cream pies. They all laughed when one of James' frogs escaped and climbed the wall of the compartment.

"Catch it, James! Oh, come on! You can do better than that!" Sirius yelled, urging James on. Remus merely watched, smiling. James, who was standing on the edge of his seat and reaching towards the ceiling for his frog, was surprised when the door opened.

He looked down. A very pretty girl stood in the doorway. She had bright red hair that went down her back, bright green eyes, and was smiling up at him.

Just then, his chocolate frog jumped down on her head.

James, who lunged to try and catch it before it hit her, lost his balance and fell forward. He let out a strangled 'Oof' as he landed on the girl.

She pushed him off her and stood. Her hair was now tangled and she was glaring at him.

"Sorry," James mumbled, standing up. "I was just trying to—my frog was—"

"He's an unforgivable klutz," Sirius supplied from behind him. James shot him a look over his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry. I'm…uh…I'm…"

"James…"Remus supplied helpfully.

"James Potter," James said quickly. The girl eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm Lily Evans."

"Uh…well…do you need somewhere to sit? There's plenty of room here!" Lily smiled and James felt his heart thump painfully in his chest.

"No, but I'm glad you have so much room." Lily turned around and said, "Come here, Peter. I've found somewhere for you to sit." James looked behind her.

A large, squat boy with blonde hair and large front teeth was cowering behind Lily. He smiled at James and stepped forward. Sirius groaned and covered his face with his hands, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Nice going, Potter.' Peter's smile faltered as he looked past James to Sirius. "There's no where else to sit." Lily said sharply to Sirius.

"There's always the floor of the hallway," Sirius said, mocking her sweet, girly voice. Lily looked over at James. He stared at her, mouth open. Her eyes pleaded with him and he was lost in their endless green.

"Sure," he found himself saying. Lily smiled again and helped Peter place his trunk under the seat by James.

"Thanks so much," Peter said tentatively.

"By then, Peter," Lily said, touching his shoulder supportively. Peter smiled at her.

"Bye, Lily! See you around then!" James called after her.

"Bye, Lily! See you around then!" Sirius mocked him. Peter snorted with laughter.

"Shove off," James said re-taking his seat.

"Shove off, he says! Love-struck, James?" Sirius teased him.

"Not bloody likely," James said, his face flaming.

"I didn't think she was that pretty, honestly. But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Peter laughed again. "Eye of the beholder. Good one," he muttered. James and Sirius stared at him, then exchanged similar looks of disgust.

"I think we'd better change into our school robes," Remus said quietly, looking out the window. "I think I see lights from the school."

The other three boys crowded around the window to get their first look at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	2. A Tale of Four Friends

Chapter Two: A Tale of Four Friends

After getting off the train, all the First Year students were rounded up by the gamekeeper, a very large man by the name of Hagrid who was over seven feet tall, and taken on boats that rowed themselves across a lake to Hogwarts. They waited anxiously on a large staircase to be called into the Great Hall. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter (whose last name, they found out, was Pettigrew) waited at the top. Sirius, James, and Remus were, it seemed, the only calm ones of the group. Sirius and James were confident, Remus indifferent. Peter, along with the rest of the First Years, was shuffling his feet nervously. He let out a whimper every so often that drew the attention of Sirius.

"Stop whining, Peter. It's just the sorting ceremony," he said disdainfully.

"Right you are, Mr. Black," came a prim voice from behind him. He turned to face a tall, stern looking witch whose hair was drawn back into a tight bun on the back of her head. She stared at him for a moment before addressing all the First Years. "Once inside the Great Hall, you will all be sorted into your houses. The people in your houses will become like your family. You will share dormitories, eat together, and go to class together. Anything you do well may earn your house points. Any discrepancies and points will be deducted. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Please come this way."

"Who was that? Do you know?" James asked Sirius, who nodded.

"That's McGonagall," Sirius said, studying the back of her head. She turned, staring down her nose at him once more.

"_Professor_ McGonagall, Mr. Black," she corrected him. "You'll do well to remember it." She then led them all into the great hall. It was packed with students and teachers. Four tables were stationed with different banners hanging over each, and the teachers' table sat at the very front of the room. Just in front of it sat a stool with a very raggedy looking hat on it. Before James knew what was happening, the hat opened its mouth (since when did hats have mouths?) and began to sing. Its voice rang out clearly through the hall.

_I welcome all, old and new,  
To Hogwarts once again.  
I'm sure you'll find there's lots to do  
Let the school year now begin._

_You First Years are so scared  
You're not sure of what you see.  
I bet you've never seen a hat  
Who sings quite as well as me._

_My brim is torn a bit I know  
And my point is not quite right,  
But a chance is all I need  
To prove my witty might._

_I'll sort you into houses  
Of which you've heard I'm sure,  
But if you've not I'll tell you now  
About the regal four._

_Old Gryffindor, he was known  
As a leader among men.  
His house was named on his behalf  
Where the brave are taken in._

_Miss Ravenclaw had many hopes  
For the smartest all around.  
Her house would always bear the mark  
Of the clever and profound._

_Now we come to Lady Hufflepuff  
Whose heart was pure as gold.  
Her house would always take the ones  
Who were left out in the cold._

_Master Slytherin was always known  
For his sly and sneaky ways.  
His, the last and final house,  
His talents did portray._

_Now I'm sure you have ideas  
After my long and lovely song  
About the house (only one of four)  
Of where you do belong._

_I'll listen to suggestions  
And look into your heart,  
But the final decision on where you go  
Is where I play my part._

The Hall burst into applause and the First Years began muttering among themselves.

"What a wonderful song," James heard a girl behind him say.

"Probably took it all last year to make that up," Sirius said, laughing.

After the hat had stopped, Professor McGonagall told them, "You will now be sorted into your houses." She started in alphabetical order with "Leah Anderson!" A small mousy-looking girl stepped forward and was sorted into Hufflepuff. After a few minutes Professor McGonagall said, "Sirius Black!" Sirius stepped forward, his whole body shouting his confidence. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on Sirius' head. It was a few short seconds before it shouted "Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table broke out into cheers and applause. Sirius sat with them, giving James a 'thumbs up.' Down the line she went until she came to "Lily Evans," who was sorted into Gryffindor. (She sat as far from Sirius, it seemed, as she could manage.) Further and further down her list came "Remus Lupin!" Remus stepped forward and the hat was placed on his head. Again it shouted "Gryffindor!" Another round of applause. After that there were two boys placed in Slytherin, one in Ravenclaw, and two girls in Hufflepuff. Peter, who was just before James, was also sorted into Gryffindor.

The last of his friends to be sorted, James' mind began to wonder. What if he were put into Ravenclaw? Or worse yet, Hufflepuff or Slytherin! He'd never get to see his friends, and—"James Potter!" He walked up and sat down on the stool. He felt Professor McGonagall place the hat on his head. Then suddenly he heard a voice that was most definitely not his inside his head.

"Ahh…I see. Yes. Well, you have quite a bit of brains here, my friend. That'll come in handy. But I sense rebelliousness in you. Courage too. Hmm. There's a fierce loyalty as well. We'll have quite a few in that house this year, but I think it's best to put you in GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted the last bit to the entire school. James breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to his friends. He was patted roughly on the back. He looked up and saw Lily staring at him. She blushed and smiled when she saw him look her way.

Professor McGonagall continued down her list, but James was hardly paying attention. He was already getting to know a few of the other Gryffindors, and listening to Sirius explain how his entire family had been in Slytherin and how glad he was that he was to be a disappointment to his family once again. A few minutes later Professor McGonagall came to the end of her long list of names.

"The hat was talking inside my head!" Peter was saying in breathless excitement, "It wanted to put me in Hufflepuff, but I begged it not to. I told it I wanted to be with you guys. My new friends! It told me that I'd have to work extra hard to keep up, but oh, I don't care. I have you guys and…" he broke off when an older, graying professor stood.

He wore half moon spectacles. His beard was almost touching his chest and his hair was to his shoulders. He smiled at them.

"Know who he is, don't you, James?" Sirius whispered.

"That's Dumbledore. Everyone knows who he is," James said.

"He's a great man," Remus said softly. They both looked at him.

"Many of you may know me as Albus Dumbledore. I've known some of you for an awfully long time, and will know most of you very well by the end of the school year. But from this point on, you will know me as Professor Dumbledore or Headmaster. Such formalities are necessary, I'm afraid." His voice was soothing and he searched all the faces in the crowd as he spoke. "This is my first year here as Headmaster and I'm as excited as I was on my first day here as a student. I know it must be hard for you to imagine a man as old as myself as an eleven-year-old boy, but I assure you I was, at one time, young.

"I'd like to make a few announcements before we begin the feast. For all First Years, the Forbidden forest is out-of-bounds. There are many creatures in there that do not appreciate our students walking around and will take advantage of such situations. Our new caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to ask that students not do magic in the hallways. If I understand correctly, there were quite a few problems with vanishing rooms and students last year. And finally, I would like to welcome you all to a new start here at Hogwarts. Now, let the feast begin!" And with a wave of his hand, the golden plates in front of them piled high with all kinds of food. James' eyes widened and he smiled across the table at Sirius, who was already putting food on his plate

Their Prefects, Frank Longbottom and Alice Arthurs, led them to the Gryffindor common room, which was hidden behind the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"This year's password is Phoenix Feathers. If for any reason it's discovered by one of the other houses, it will have to be changed. So do us all a favor and don't write it down," Frank said sternly to the group of students. The Fat Lady had already swung open when Frank had said the password.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there yapping or are you going to go inside?" she asked irritably.

Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter all shared a dorm room with a boy named Linkin Lovegood. They found their things waiting for them there and began to unpack. Linkin took the bed furthest from the door and almost immediately began to scribble notes on a piece of parchment.

"Longbottom said we'll get our class schedules tomorrow at breakfast," Sirius was saying.

"Does that mean we have the whole evening to ourselves?" Peter squeaked.

"I suppose," Sirius said. "What do you lot want to do?"

"We could explore the castle, couldn't we? Figure out where everything is?" James offered.

"No one knows where everything in this castle is," Remus said softly. "I doubt that even its founders knew."

"Yeah, but that'd be half the fun, wouldn't it? Knowing things that no one else knows?" James said, his excitement at the thought mounting.

"I suppose. But we couldn't break any school rules," Remus said.

"Couldn't we?" asked Sirius, looking at each face in turn. They stared back at him and he grinned mischievously.

An hour or so later, they were heading out of the common room when Frank Longbottom stopped them.

"Have you four finished your unpacking, then?" he asked.

"Yeah. We thought we'd go have a look around the castle," Sirius told him. It seemed to James that they obviously knew one another, because Frank smiled.

"Not going to get into any trouble are you, Black?" he asked, his smile widening. Sirius grinned back.

"Nah. Not on the first day, anyway. Just some exploring."

"Well, don't forget to be back before lights out. McGonagall will have a fit if anyone from Gryffindor gets in trouble the first night."

"Do you know of any hidden passageways?" Peter peeped. Frank stared down his nose at Peter.

"Of course not. And if you find any, you're to tell me straight away," he told Peter firmly. Sirius sighed and pushed Peter out the porthole.

"Got it. Report secret passages to you straight away. Be back before lights out. No problem," he said, following Peter. Once the Fat Lady slid shut behind them, Sirius slapped the back of Peter's head. "What's the matter with you, you git! Talking about secret passageways to a Prefect!"  
"S-sorry, Sirius. I won't—not again," Peter stammered. Sirius sighed.

"So which way do we head?" Remus asked, looking down the two corridors that went to the right and left of their dormitory. .

"I say we go left," James said. "Keep our hands on the right wall. That way we don't get lost." The other boys were staring at him. "What? You've never heard of that trick? Muggles use it. You keep your right hand touching a surface at all times and you can always find your way back."  
"Alright, James!" Sirius said, slapping him on the back.

Several hours later they came back to the common room exhausted with nothing to show for their efforts.

"I can barely walk," Peter complained as he stumbled past the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"The exercise will do you good," Sirius said, though he was also breathing heavily.

"I'm at my ideal weight," Peter insisted.

"Yeah," Sirius snorted, "If you're six feet tall!"

"Come off it, Sirius," James said. "We're all tired." They made their way to their room and each collapsed in their respective beds.

"Three floors. Nothing at all," Sirius said in disbelief.

"Well, we found some really interesting artwork," Remus said. Sirius slanted him a look and rolled his eyes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready for a good night's sleep," James said, stretching.

"Yeah. We really should get to bed. We have class tomorrow," Remus said.

"Oh, that's right," Sirius groaned.

"I-I'm really nervous about my first classes. Do you think they'll be hard?" Peter asked.

"You're nervous about everything, Peter," Sirius said, his eyes closed. "I will tell you one thing though, mates. There's no way I'll ever be considered another faceless First Year. By the time the year's up, everyone will know Sirius Black. And by the time I'm a seventh year, my name will be legend. It will be spoken with reverence. Respect, even."

"Well, we know they'll never write songs of your modesty," James laughed.

"Who needs modesty? Modesty is overrated."

"Especially when you're Sirius Black, aye?" Remus said. They all laughed.

They went to bed late that night, but James couldn't sleep. He could hear Peter snoring on the other side of the room and Remus muttering occasionally in his sleep. He didn't know whether Sirius slept or not; he didn't move, but he supposed he could be lying awake as well. He couldn't believe that it was only his first day at Hogwarts and already he'd made such great friends. He smiled into the darkness. This was going to be a great year.


	3. The Dawn of a New Era

Chapter Three: The Dawn of a New Era

Breakfast came too early the next morning for James' liking. He ate through numerous yawns. People at the Gryffindor table giggled and pointed at his disheveled appearance. He figured it did no good to point out that his hair _always_ looked like that. Peter slanted him a look and giggled. James glared at him.

"There's nothing I can do about it," he insisted, flattening his hair with his palm, which, as usual, did no good. Peter leaned in close to him and whispered,

"It's your robe," he giggled. "It's on backwards." James looked down. Sure enough, his robes were put on backwards, attesting to the fact that he most certainly was _not_ a morning person.

James figured he had two real choices: He could be horribly embarrassed and hurriedly switch his robes in the nearest lavatory, or he could laugh along with his classmates. James chose the latter. He laughed heartily. Everyone at the Gryffindor table joined in.

"New fashion statement, ay Potter?" Sirius asked, laughing.

"Maybe! Who knows! Perhaps I should hold my own fashion show here at Hogwarts!" James said, standing up and strutting around the Gryffindor table and swinging his hips. Laughter abounded, stretching as far as the neighboring Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins glared as James passed their table, fuming as they watched him stick his nose in the air and stride back to his seat. Just as he sat back down and righted his robes, Professor McGonagall passed out the class schedules.

"Potions first this morning with Professor Dennison," Remus said, considering his schedule. "Then Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Inglewood and Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Then this afternoon we have…"

"We have our hardest classes in the morning?" Peter groaned.

"And the first two are with the Slytherins," Sirius growled, glaring across the hall at the Slytherins, who glared back.

Sirius and James were late to their very first class. When they finally arrived, they walked slowly into the room, as if they had not a care in the world. The entire class stared, the Slytherins snickering. Professor Dennison, a spindly man with dark blonde hair and large glasses whose arms and legs seemed much too large for his body, watched their approach. He pushed his glasses back up his nose (the arms of his robes pulling taunt as if they were a size too small) and stared down at them.

"Late, Mr. Black. Mr. Potter."

"Yes, well, you know how that goes," Sirius said jovially. The Gryffindors sniggered.

"First day and all that," James piped up, smiling. Professor Dennison watched them over the tops of his glasses, which had once again slipped down his sharp-angled nose. Everyone in the room was quiet, waiting for his reaction. Suddenly he smiled.

"Well, I suppose so. But since you've obviously found the room quite well, I'm sure you'll have no problems locating it in the future?" he asked. Both Sirius and James seemed shocked that they weren't in trouble. When they didn't answer, Professor Dennison continued, "Go ahead and take your seats, boys." They did, sitting near the back of the classroom between Remus and Peter, who'd made sure to save seats for them.

"How did you manage to get out of that one?" Remus asked, smiling.

"No idea," Sirius said, watching Professor Dennison. The teacher smiled at Sirius once more, then turned to the class and began to go over their course for the year. Bored within minutes, James and Sirius began scribbling together on a piece of paper, Peter looking on. Remus would look over and grin occasionally, but paid attention to Professor Dennison for the most part.

James was thrilled when it came time to leave class, and was one of the first people out the door. He was turned around walking backwards so he could talk to the other three boys when he ran into someone. THUNK. James turned.

"Watch where you're going, Potter," snarled an oily voice. James looked down at the crouched figure. A boy, slightly shorter than himself, with greasy black hair to his shoulders, hateful-looking eyes, and a pallid complexion, was gathering his books off the floor. He was wearing Slytherin colors. James tilted his head to the side and studied the boy. He waited until the boy stood, his books gathered in his arms.

"Well, if it isn't yet another greasy Slytherin," he said, and heard Peter snicker behind him. The boy sneered at him.

"You Gryffindors all think you're so _clever_," he snarled. James seemed to consider this for a moment.

"If you'll recall, the Ravenclaws are the clever house. We are a sight more clever than you, though, yes. But, really, that's not much of a stretch is it?" This time a few other people near them in the hall laughed as well. The boy shot James another look of contempt and then glided away to join his fellow Slytherins.

James and his friends continued down the hall, heading towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts room.

"Who was that git?" James asked, watching the Slytherin's retreating form with a frown. Sirius snorted.

"That was Severus Snape. Last of the Snape line," he said scornfully. "Thinks he's something special because his father's got money. I say good riddance to all the Snapes once he snuffs it. His lot are nearly as bad as mine."

"Ah," James said, understanding, "a pureblood fanatic?" Sirius nodded.

They entered their Defense Against The Dark Arts class and made their way, again, to the back of the room, to took their seats. Their Professor had his back to them and appeared to be searching his desk for something. His robes, a sharp contrast to Professor Dennison's, were much too large for him and billowed around him. He had short-cropped hair in chestnut brown. After a few minutes, the class became restless and began to talk and mumble amongst themselves. Then, suddenly, their Professor turned.

"A _girl_!" James said, open-mouthed. "Our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is a _girl_?" Sure enough, Professor Inglewood was, unmistakably, a girl. She looked around the class, studying each person, her green eyes lingering a moment or two on the four boys situated at the back before continuing on.

"I thought her name sounded familiar," Remus said, leaning over towards James, Peter, and Sirius. "That's Martha Inglewood! The ex-Auror! She's one of the most powerful witches of our age."

"Yeah?" said Peter, watching Professor Inglewood. "Then why's she teaching here at Hogwarts?"

"I think something happened…a raid gone bad or something…and they say she can't deal with actual field work anymore. I suppose Dumbledore recruited her because she'd have to know all kinds of things about the Dark Arts to be an Auror."

Like their previous class, Professor Inglewood went over the year's course. And, like their previous class, James and Sirius became bored almost immediately. When class was over, Remus tapped them both on their shoulders. Their heads shot up from their desks and they looked around drowsily.

"Come on," he said, grinning, "I'll fill you in on the way to Transfiguration."

Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall was no different for the boys besides the fact that she seemed to be much more strict than their last two teachers. She told Sirius only once to get his head off his desk before she threatened to deduct points from Gryffindor.

"We'll have to watch out for that one," Sirius said, looking back over his shoulder at McGonagall as they left her class and headed for the Great Hall.

"Or she'll be watching out for us," Peter agreed. "I don't think she's the kind of Professor you really want to have angry with you."

"Agreed," said James, also looking back at McGonagall. She was standing at the door of her classroom, watching them. She met his eyes only for a moment before closing the door to her room.

All the boys were glad that lunch had finally arrived. After eating, they headed outside to sit under a tree by the lake and enjoy the wonderful weather.

"You've been awfully quiet, Peter," said Remus. "Is everything alright?"

"Just thinking," said Peter thoughtfully.

"Don't hurt yourself," Sirius joked. Peter smiled half-heartedly.

"I was just wondering how many passageways we'll find this year. I've heard that there are loads that even the teachers don't know of, " he said, biting his already too-short nails.

"Well, James and I have already found one," Sirius said casually, closing his eyes and leaning back against the trunk of the tree. Remus pulled his attention away from the book he had been reading, and Peter was staring at Sirius, mouth agape. James was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"When did you manage that?" Remus asked softly.

"Where is it? Where does it go?" Peter squeaked.

"Well," said James excitedly, "that's why we were late for Potions. We hung around in the Great Hall after all the teachers had gone. See, Sirius had an idea…"

"And I was right on the money too!" Sirius said, opening his eyes and sitting up. "I wondered about how the plates of food just vanished once we were all done. Well, you have to figure that there's someone doing all that cleaning. I mean, you don't think Filch can do the whole castle by himself do you?"

"And?" Peter prompted, eyes brightening.

"Well, we sat there and Sirius was talking loudly about how much he'd like to have some sweets. And then…"

"This picture moved aside and all these house elves came out carrying trays just loaded with sweets!"

"Well, of course, we asked them nicely as you please how one was to get into the kitchens."

"One of the little buggers told us that all you had to do was tickle the pear on the portrait with the food on it and it would swing aside and you could go right into the kitchens!" Sirius finished.

"Wow!" said Peter.

"You weren't seen, were you?" asked Remus cautiously.

"Nah." Sirius waved his hand. "We were careful! Right, James?" But James wasn't listening. He was staring across the grounds. Sirius sat straighter to see what he was looking at. Then he sighed, collapsing back onto the tree.

"Come off it, James." He said. James watched Lily Evans as she giggled with two or three girl friends. One he recognized as Alice Arthurs, but the others he wasn't familiar with. He watched them coming slowly his way and unconsciously ruffled his hair.

"All right, Evans?" he called out as she passed. She looked up, obviously surprised. Her friends giggled madly, but she merely smiled at him and waved.

"Associating with Muggle-borns now, are you, Potter?" came an acidic voice to James' left. He turned, his eyes darkening. Snape stood, surrounded on all sides by other Slytherins. These, however, were all second and third years. _Coward_, James thought darkly. He felt rather than saw Sirius and Remus stand on either side of him, Peter cowering behind.

"Snivellus!" James said, as though greeting an old friend. "I thought we'd meet again! I'd thought, or hoped, rather, that it would be later rather than sooner." Snape's malicious grin widened.

"Perhaps," he said slowly, "you haven't met my companions. Malfoy, Crabbe, Avery, Goyle, and Flint."

"Of course we haven't met them. Unlike you, Snivellus, we don't associate with scumbags," Sirius growled.

"You'd think," Malfoy told Sirius, stepping from behind Snape, "that you'd do your family a better honor than to associate with people so…unworthy." Sirius' lip curled in disgust.

"Lucius," he said coldly. Lucius Malfoy was a full two years ahead of Sirius. His thin, lanky body and unhealthy, pasty coloring hardly inspired fear. The look in his eyes, however, had frightened many a person into submission. His parents' money had bought him a lifetime worth of fear-imposing political connections (already fueled by his father), an abundance of worldly possessions, and little else. His acquaintances were sparse, friendships rare, and the little natural caring he had possessed as a child had been stamped down by years of being taught that he was superior to others due to his bloodline and his financial standing.

"What would your parents say about the company you're keeping?" Lucius surveyed the crowd around Sirius. "A Potter. Wizarding blood, yes, but hardly one of the purest. Or the most powerful." He looked beyond James to Remus. "And this one…nothing but filth. I mean, honestly, look at the state of him! I've seen garbage heaps that were in better shape! And they certainly smelled better!" His companions laughed. "Ah, yes. Peter Pettigrew. Really, boy, cowering behind your friends like some sort of Muggle. Yet another disgrace that this world is forced to tolerate. And the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor? House of the brave and loyal?"

"Any and all better than you and yours, Malfoy," Sirius spat. "With the rubbish you talk about being so pure and powerful, your family's sure eager to marry into a wealthier family. Mine, perhaps." Malfoy's eyes narrowed.

"The Malfoys need help from no one."

"If you keep this up you will," James said, withdrawing his wand from the folds of his robes. Everyone else (with the exception of Peter) did the same. Eyes narrowed, they judged each other, deciding what to do next—

"Hello," said a pleasant voice suddenly from behind Snape and the other Slytherins. Everyone dropped their wands to their sides.

"Professor Dumbledore," James said, wondering where the old man had come from. He stared down at them over the tops of his half-moon spectacles. His blue eyes traveled among them, landing on each in turn.

"There's no trouble here, I'm sure," he said, more a statement than a question. Even Snape seemed smart enough not to question Dumbledore.

"Merely a difference of opinion, Professor," he assured him. Dumbledore continued to study them. Then he smiled widely.

"Well, about time to get back inside, then, don't you think? Remus," he said, "could I have a word?" Remus nodded wordlessly and followed him.

"You're lucky the Headmaster came along this time," Snape hissed. "You won't be so lucky next time, Potter. Black." James and Sirius sneered back but said nothing as the Slytherins headed towards the castle. James, Sirius and Peter fell back a few steps making sure they couldn't be heard.

"What do you think the Headmaster wanted with Remus?" Peter said, worry laced through his voice.

"You don't think he was in trouble for something we did, do you?" James asked.

"No. I doubt it. Probably just questioning him about what was going on just now. Probably figures he'd be the most likely to spill," Sirius said.

"Yeah," James said, looking unconvinced. "Yeah, I guess so."


	4. Uncomfortable Lies

Chapter Four: Uncomfortable Lies

A few weeks went by and the boys settled into a kind of casual monotony.

"You'd think, with this place being a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that something interesting would be bound to happen sooner or later," Sirius complained as they were finishing dinner one evening. James, uninterested, hardly looked up from his meal. He was used to hearing such comments from Sirius by now. "I mean, really. Think about it. Besides in the classrooms, when have you seen anyone using magic?"

"Well, wh-where else would you use magic? We're not allowed to do it in the hallways," Peter pointed out.

"That's if Filch is around to catch you. It's only wrong if you get caught," Sirius argued.

"You know how Filch is, sneaking up on you. He comes from out of nowhere," Remus stated. Sirius thought about this, going silent and picking at his plate. James finished his meal and stretched. He opened his mouth to say something, then noticed Remus staring avidly at his wristwatch.

"Late for an appointment, Remus?" he joked. Remus jumped.

"Huh? What? Oh, no, it's just—it, uh, feels later than what it is," he said, stumbling over his words. James stared at him.

"You all right, old man?" he asked, noting that Remus looked thinner and paler than usual. His robes were practically hanging from his body. Remus nodded. "You're looking a bit sickly. Maybe you ought to go see Madam Pomfrey." Remus opened his mouth to speak, but a hand landed on his shoulder. He spun, nearly knocking his plate off the table. It was Dumbledore. He smiled kindly down at Remus.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, Remus. May I have a word?"

Remus nodded mutely and followed Dumbledore without a word of explanation to his friends.

"Now what was that all about?" James wondered aloud, staring after them. "A bit odd, that." Then, as if a sudden realization hit him, Sirius exclaimed,

"That's it!"

"What's what?" Peter asked.

"Filch! How does he sneak up on people out of nowhere? He must know some of the secret passages! All we have to do is follow him and learn them as well!" He looked around. "Where's Remus?"

"Wonder what Dumbledore wanted with him?" James asked again as they headed up the stairs towards the boys' dormitory.

"Dunno. Maybe…" Peter tried, but seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Exactly my point. There's no logical reason that we know of for Dumbledore to swoop in and collect Remus."

Sirius hadn't said much since his outburst at dinner about Filch. He seemed to be lost deep in his thoughts. Walking with them seemed more of a habit than an actual choice he was making. James was the first to enter their room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Remus leaning over his trunk, digging around in his things.

"Remus!" he said, rushing his friend. "What happened? Why did Dumbledore want you?" He bombarded Remus with questions until finally Remus held up his hands to silence him.

"James, it's my mum. She's taken ill and I'm going home for a day, two at most, to be with her."

James stared at him, his mouth slightly agape. Then he took a slow step back and said, "Oh. It's serious, then?"

"I'm not sure. My mum's the sickly type so you never really know," Remus said, not looking at James.

"Oh. Sorry about that, mate," James said sincerely, going to sit on his bed. He watched as Remus packed a very small bag with two outfits and left the room. Sirius and Peter watched from their beds as well. None of them spoke.

"He's a bit of an odd one isn't, he?" said an airy voice from across the room. Sirius, Peter, and James all jumped at the sound. Linkin Lovegood emerged from the shadows of his bed and stood, his quill and parchment grasped tightly in his fists. His quill was dripping with unused ink. The boys eyed him warily. This was the first he had spoken to them all year.

"What's that?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"Your friend. A bit odd, don't you think? I was talking with him earlier and he didn't even believe that Giant Carnivorous Flying Dung Beatles or Crumple Horned Snornacks exist," Linkin said seriously.

"What are—" Peter began, but Sirius stopped him by putting a hand none-too-gently over his mouth.

"I don't think we want to ask that question, Peter," he said quietly to Peter, then said to Linkin, "Right you are, Lovegood. Odd one indeed."

"How's your mum, then, Remus?" Peter asked him a few days later as they headed for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Much better, thank you, Peter," Remus said cheerily, looking much better himself.

"Well," Sirius said, clapping him on the back, "we have good news, Remus, old pal." Remus slanted him a look, but said nothing. "I know you'll be thrilled. Tonight after hours we're all going to follow Filch and learn some new secret passageways. That is to say, you, James, Peter, and myself."

Remus shook his head.

"There is _no way_. After hours, Sirius, are you kidding? We'll be caught for sure!" he insisted. Sirius said nothing, only patted him on the back. "I mean it, Sirius," Remus insisted.

"I'm sure you do, Remus," was all Sirius said, his smile growing.

"How do you talk me into these things?" Remus whispered.

"It's my wit, my charm, my irresistible nature," Sirius whispered back.

"But you don't have any of those things," Remus pointed out.

"Shut up, you two. You'll get us caught," James reprimanded.

They walked along the deserted corridors looking for any sign of one Mr. Argus Filch. It seemed that every time they heard him just around the next corner, he disappeared on them. James had to agree with Sirius that Filch probably did use some hidden passages.

Just then, James saw a light ahead and gave the other three boys the signal to hide. Which was basically him waving his hands frantically in front of their faces and making 'shooing' motions. They each found different places in the corridor in which to hide: James behind a statue of a one-eyed witch with a hump, Sirius standing stiff-legged behind a suit of armor, Remus ducking inside an empty classroom, and Peter…James looked around…where _was_ Peter? A loud clanging from somewhere down the hallway made him jump. He looked and was horrified to see Peter actually trying to climb inside one of the suits of armor, which was fighting back viciously.

"Get off me!" Peter was shrieking frantically, flailing at the suit of armor. James, Remus, and Sirius all emerged from their hiding spots as one and ran to aid Peter in escaping the clutches of the normally immobile suit of armor. It grappled with them ferociously, seemingly unwilling to give up its prisoner. James saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up just in time to see an outline that looked suspiciously like that of Snape round the corner nearest them and disappear from sight. Then, around the opposite corner, ran Filch at full speed.

"I've got you now, you filthy cretins!" he called.

"Though it pains me to have ever had to ask this question, what _were_ you doing trying to climb inside the suit of armor?" Dumbledore asked calmly. Filch had taken them straight to the Headmaster's office after he had helped pry Peter from the deadly grasp of the suit of armor. Dumbledore had been in his chair, rubbing his eyes sleepily, as though he had been waiting for this exact thing to happen. Sirius had to wonder if Dumbledore's powers perhaps extended to being able to tell the future. Sirius figured he could have made just as good a living off telling fortunes as being a headmaster. Neither, he was sure, paid well. Though, as in cases like this, his skill would come in handy to—"Mister Black? If I could have your attention long enough to distribute your punishments?"

Sirius jerked out of his reverie.

"Sorry, Professor, I was just…"

"About to find out your punishment. Firstly, you should know that it is not normally my place to hand out punishments. As a rule, you would be sent to your head of house, which, in your cases, would be Professor McGonagall. However, I would hate to wake that dear woman in the middle of the night just to punish you four. So this is what I am going to do." He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off abruptly by Sirius' ill-timed proclamation of guilt.

"It was all my doing, Professor. I—I made them come with me. Held at wand-point, they were," he said hurriedly.

"Mr. Black"

"No, honestly. You may think that just because I'm in my first year that I don't know much, but—but the Blacks…they have lots of magic. Yep. We're taught early on all the dark magic you could ever need to…"

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore said loudly, "if you would please calm yourself for a moment. Now, as I was saying, your punishment is this: You are to be in your dormitories two hours before curfew every night,"

"But, Professor," James said, speaking up for the first time, "that would mean we'd have to go up right after dinner!"

"Yes, James, I realize that. Your free time will be limited. Also, you will be in bed an hour before your fellow classmates, and once you are in bed I expect you to stay there. If you are found out of your dormitories again after that time, your punishments will be…" He peered at them over his half-moon spectacles and his eyes narrowed. "…severe."

The boys didn't speak again as they trudged up to the Gryffindor common room. Dumbledore's warning rang over and over again in James' head. What, exactly, did he mean by 'severe'? Like, 'let Filch hang you up in the dungeons by your thumbs' severe? Or 'kicked out of school' severe? He heard Remus sigh and was surprised when he didn't say anything. Remus, James knew, hadn't wanted to come along, but he'd accepted his punishment with the rest of them. James felt closer to him for it. True enough, Peter hadn't said anything either, but James just figured that he was too traumatized by the suit of armor incident. He'd half expected him to wet himself in Dumbledore's office. He chuckled to himself at the thought.

"Don't know what you find so funny," Sirius said grouchily. "We're practically on house arrest! We'll never find out anything now!"

"But we don't have detention," Remus said, his voice less than the cheerful he was going for, "so call it an upside."

"'Upside' my arse," Sirius grumbled.

"Well, Dumbledore didn't give a time limit on how long this would last. Maybe it won't be all that long," James said, trying to convince himself as well as the others.

"Or maybe the reason he didn't specify a time was because it's indefinite," Sirius said, his scowl darkening.

"Oh, come on. Halloween's coming. Even Dumbledore can't be a spoil-sport on Halloween!" James said.

"That's right!" Peter said, speaking for the first time since he'd shouted at the suit of armor. "And then we'll have the Halloween Feast and all the celebrations. I even heard from Amos Diggory and Bertha Jorkins over in Hufflepuff that Dumbledore's planning something."

"Like what?" Sirius asked, eyeing Peter owlishly. Peter flushed.

"Well, they didn't know what exactly. But they said they heard it was big."


	5. Hopeful Candidates

Chapter Five: Hopeful Candidates

Lily's hair was groomed exceptionally well, James couldn't help but notice as he walked into the Gryffindor common room early one morning. She was leaned low over a table scribbling on some parchment; her silky hair shimmering red-gold around her face. She kept pushing it behind her ear with one delicate hand. He was compelled to go over and sit with her, though he wasn't sure why.

Leaving his friends staring after him, he walked over and sat by her without a word. He glanced over at her a few times, hoping she'd notice him, but when she didn't, he took it upon himself.

"What are you working on there, Evans?"

She looked up; her eyes were glazed over with concentration. She focused on James' face and smiled. "Oh. Hi, James. It's that Transfiguration essay for Professor McGonagall."

"Having some trouble with it?" he asked, scooting closer and peering down at her paper.

"I just don't think I'm explaining this part right," she said, indicating a portion of her paper.

James read over it, then explained some things to her and gave her suggestions on word usage. Once he was through, Lily stared at him with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

"You're really smart," she said.

"You sound shocked!" James said in mock indignation.

"No! Well…I mean, you never raise your hand in class," she said quickly, trying to recover from her blunder. "And you're always goofing around in the back. McGonagall threatens to deduct points from you almost daily!"

James laughed. "Sirius claims that it's merely her misguided love for us that makes her say that. Besides, why waste my time raising my hands giving answers? I know that I know them." He shrugged.

Lily studied him. "You're really a very good teacher. You should consider it as a profession." She smiled brightly at him.

James waved his hand at her dismissively. "What sort of prat wants to be a teacher? I'm going to be an Auror," he said confidently.

Lily studied him for a moment longer before she began to blush, then turned back to her work. James stared at her face, taking in the light dusting of freckles across her nose and the way it scrunched up as she worked, the curve of her cupid's-bow mouth, the way she—

"If you're done drooling on Evans, we're going down to breakfast," a voice whispered in his ear. James jumped and swung his head around. Sirius was leaning down, leering at him. James shoved him and Sirius stumbled back, laughing. James felt himself grow warm and knew he was blushing. He hated himself for it. He hated Sirius more. Lily shot Sirius a contemptuous look before saying goodbye to James, then standing up and leaving the Common Room.

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Sirius asked, taking the seat she'd abandoned.

"Your obnoxious personality," James snapped, irritated by Sirius' untimely interruption.

"You won't feel that way after I tell you what I've found out," Sirius said mysteriously.

"What?" James asked, slanting him a look.

"A haunted castle."

"What?"

"That's what Dumbledore's planning. That's the 'big' thing Peter was gushing about."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I was following Filch…"

"As much as you do that, it could be considered stalking, you know."

"Do you want to know how I found out or not?"

"Go on."

"I was following Filch and ended up overhearing Dumbledore talking about it. He said it's going to be very frightening. And the first student who makes it all the way through the castle wins."

"And of course you'll be the winner?" James drawled.

"_We_, dear friend. _We_ will be the winners." Sirius said conspiratorially.

It was one week until Halloween when Dumbledore announced the festivities at dinner.

"If I could please have your attention before we go our separate ways for the evening? This Halloween the staff and myself have worked tirelessly to do something special. This year we will be having a haunted castle competition. However, this won't be your usual sort of haunted castle (if there is such a thing). There will be countless obstacles that you must face throughout the school.

"We have several outside guests helping us, including the Headless Hunt. We have our very own Hogwarts ghosts, many of the professors, myself, Mr. Filch, and many many more. Anyone may choose to partake in the contest, but I must warn you that many of you younger students may not be up to the task. Many of the obstacles that you will face will require advanced magic." A collective murmur spread through the crowd, and Dumbledore waited for it to die out before continuing. "Third place winners of the competition will receive a year's pass to the kitchens, where our marvelous house elves will supply you with whatever food and drink you may desire, with the exception of anything you are not of age to consume. Second place winners will receive one hundred house points and a trip to Hogsmeade for him or herself and four friends. Our first place winner will receive three hundred house points, a weekend trip for him or herself and four friends to anywhere in Europe and will be exempt from the exam of his or her choice." Now several students were chattering excitedly. "Each student wishing to sign up for this competition will go to his or her head of house and sign a sheet, which will then be given to me. Your heads of house will conduct interviews with each student. That is all." He retook his seat and the talking in the Great Hall escalated to a roar in a matter of seconds.

"What do you reckon, James? We up for it?" Sirius said, grinning. He already knew the answer.

"Definitely." James grinned back.

Around midday three days before the competition, just after James and Sirius had received their new order of dungbombs from Zonkos, James was called to McGonagall's office. It was Peter who gave him the news.

"James!" he called, running into the Owlery. "James!"

James turned from the package that he and Sirius were untying from the Pluto's leg. "Wotcher, Peter?" he called happily.

"It's McGonagall. She wants you in her office straight away!" Peter said breathlessly.

James and Sirius exchanged a look. "This isn't about the dungbombs we threw into the girls' lavatory, is it?" Sirius asked. "Because that could have been anyone."

Peter shook his head. "She wants him about his application for the Halloween competition."

"Oh," James laughed, "is that all? You had me worried, Pete!" He slapped Peter on the back on his way out of the Owlery.

James knocked briskly on the door of Professor McGonagall's office before entering without being asked. He smiled devilishly at her from across the room. She arched her eyebrow at him.

"Do come in, Mr. Potter."

"Why, Professor! I never thought I'd be lucky enough to talk with you outside class!"

"Yes," she said evenly, "if we could only be so blessed on a more regular basis. Perhaps outside class I might find you more attentive."

"Professor! I'm hurt."

"Yes, well, I do have several other students to meet with, Mr. Potter. If you would allow me to continue? Please have a seat." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. After he sat down, she stared at him for a few seconds. "Tell me," she said at length, "do you honestly think yourself up to this task? Or has Mr. Black convinced you that some outlandish scheme that was no doubt his idea could help the two of you win the competition even against insurmountable odds for First Years? Not to mention competing against other students in their Seventh Year?"

James seemed to think on this for a moment. "Nah. Nothing like that." He smiled jovially.

McGonagall rubbed her temples. "I daresay there is no talking you out of this, is there, Potter?" she said on a sigh.

"Chin up, Professor! Just think. If we do lose horribly, it will no doubt be a sore spot for the two of us. One that you can poke and prod at your discretion!"

"You are dismissed, Potter."

"But Professor"

"Please leave my office, Mr. Potter. And please send me Mr. Black. And tell him I mean now, not later."

Just before James closed the door behind him, he could have sworn that he heard her say something about Sirius and early retirement. He chuckled, thinking to himself that that wasn't nearly as bad as he'd expected.

James was glad to have had classes off for the days leading up to Halloween. He didn't think he'd have been able to concentrate on any of his classes if they'd still been on. Not that he usually paid attention, but even pretending to would have been an arduous task. He and Sirius had spent the past day and a half devising a plan to win the competition. Neither Remus or Peter had signed up, both saying that being First Years, they had little to no chance of beating the older students. James and Sirius had waved them off. It was now lat the night before the competition, and they sat in the Common Room before the roaring fire.

"No, no…this staircase leads to the fourth floor, you git," Sirius said, pointing to the map he and James had been creating.

"Well, they all look the same!" James snapped. "If you weren't so horrible with ink and parchment…"

"It's not that I'm bad with them. It's that you have no imagination. That's clearly the portrait of the barmy girl having the tea party with herself, which, if you knew anything about anything, you'd know is right by the staircase that leads to the fourth floor," Sirius said in a superior voice.

"Well, she looks like a pack of dogs chasing a rabbit, which, if _you_ knew anything about anything, you'd know is by the staircase on the _sixth_ floor," James said heatedly.

"You'll never finish that if you keep arguing the way you are," Remus pointed out, not looking up from the book he was reading. "And if you don't finish it, there's no way you'll win. You don't know your way around the castle well enough."

James and Sirius scowled, but said no more. He was right and they both knew it.

"What's that there?" Peter asked, pointing at two squiggly lines that were drawn outside the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Sirius looked up at him sharply. "That's James and me before we start the competition," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're as bad as James," he muttered. "No imagination."

"Well, I think that's it for the staircases," James said, picking up the parchment and laying it on the stack of others beside the table. "Now all we have left are the upper levels."

"And the dungeons," Sirius pointed out.

"Right. The dungeons," James sighed.

Soon they were the only four left in the Common Room. The crackling of the fire and the scratching of Sirius' quill on parchment were the only sounds to be heard.

Finally, Sirius stretched and pushed the parchment towards James. "Label away, my boy. We're through."

"It's about bloody time," James said after yawning loudly.

"Respect _le artiste_."

"I will when you show me one."

"That's quite a bit of parchment to haul around," Remus said, nodding to the towering pile of parchment on the floor by the table. By now it reached over halfway up the table's legs.

"We could do a Shrinking Spell on it," James suggested.

"You wouldn't be able to read it well then. And besides, won't it be dark in the corridors? With this being a Haunted Castle Competition and all."

"Oh," James and Sirius said together. Clearly that hadn't occurred to them.

"_Lumos_," Peter said suddenly.

"What?"

"You could use your _Lumos_ spell," Peter said again.

A grin spread slowly across Sirius' face. "You, my boy, are a genius," he told Peter, slapping him on the back so hard that his nose nearly hit the tabletop. Peter flushed at this, the first compliment paid to him by Sirius.

"_Lumos_," Sirius said.

"So obvious," James agreed.

The next morning at breakfast, James couldn't help but overhear Lily talking to Alice about the competition.

"Have you entered then, Evans?" he asked. Lily nodded.

"Yeah. I've already had my conference with McGonagall and everything. I don't hope to win, but I just want to experience it."

"Sure you won't need someone around to protect you?" James said, puffing his chest out. "I wouldn't mind escorting you for a while."

Lily blinked at him for a few seconds. "I'm sure I can take care of myself, James," she said pointedly, sounding more like McGonagall than James liked.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"I am."

"Hey," Sirius interrupted, nudging him in the side, "let's go take another look at those maps before the competition starts."

"Alright," James said. He turned to Peter and Remus. "Do you two wanna tag along?"

They shook their heads. "We're going to finish breakfast," Remus said. "Besides, only the competitors are supposed to go back to the Common Rooms. The rest of us are going to be here in the Great Hall for the rest of the day."

The Common Room was full to bursting when they arrived. Students milled around everywhere, discussing the possible outcomes of the competition.

"You two have entered?" Frank Longbottom asked with a smile as they entered through the portrait hole.

"Yeah. Figured we'd give it a shot," James said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"But you're only First Years," A Fifth Year pointed out from across the room.

"Yeah. Remember that once we've won," Sirius called to him. A few people laughed, but most looked sceptical.

"Do you really think you've learned enough to win?" someone else—a Third Year—asked.

"It's got nothing to do with brains. It's got to do with bravery and courage and stamina. Things like that," Sirius argued.

"Good thing for you. If it had to do with brains, you boys would be out of luck, I'm afraid," Frank laughed.

"Competitors," Dumbledore's voice rang clearly through the Common Room, "please line up at the exits to your Common Rooms. I want First Years to be first in line, Second Years next, and so on. First Years will get a two-minute head start. You have ten seconds to line up. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three Two. One. GO! Good luck to all our competitors." Then his voice twisted and become malevolent and intimidating. "And always watch over your shoulders." A booming, hateful laugh sounded through the room, completely unlike Dumbledore's. James and Sirius, along with several other First Years, ran out into the hallway and immediately split up. Sirius pulled the miniature versions of their maps out of his pocket and squinted down at the top one.

"OK. Let's start with the dungeons and work our way up. The quickest way to the dungeons is…left." He began walking without delay. James followed.


	6. Slow Beginnings and Quicker Ends

Chapter Six: Slow Beginnings and Quicker Ends

The corridor was filled with an unnatural fog that made it hard to see or even breathe. A soft wind whistled in James' ear and he shivered, pulling his wand out. He walked slowly beside Sirius and kept looking back over his shoulder, Dumbledore's mad voice looming in his head. A door rattled as they passed it, and Sirius jumped.

"Don't stop," James instructed. "Not unless you have to."

They made it to the staircase on the third floor before they were met with any problems. There, from out of nowhere, a shimmering horse galloped full speed towards James. He threw himself out of the way and glimpsed Sirius out of the corner of his eye doing the same.

He looked up just in time to see the horse's rider pull its head from its body and screech at him. Several more horses galloped up and their riders did the same. Swords slashed, glimmering through the air. James and Sirius scampered about on the floor, trying to avoid getting trampled or stabbed. James threw several basic spells, but none affected the riders in any way.

It took James nearly a full minute of cowering on the floor to realize that they must be ghostsseveral times a horse's hoof had gone through his leg, leaving behind only a cold feeling. He frowned, angry with himself for being fooled. He stood slowly and the riders looked at him with surprise. "The Headless Hunt, I presume?" he said coldly before walking around several of them to where Sirius was backed against a wall. He grasped Sirius by the forearm and hauled him to his feet.

"It took the others much longer," the first rider said, tucking his head beneath his arm. "I'm impressed."

Figuring he must be the leader, James addressed him. "It was a good show," he said with the barest hint of a smile.

The ghost smiled back at him. "It was, wasn't it? Well, we must go back and conceal ourselves to wait for our next victims. On with you then, men! You've earned your passage, and quite well, I must say." The group turned as one and galloped through the wall behind Sirius.

"That was…" Sirius swallowed hard.

"Interesting?" said a voice from behind them. They both turned.

"Evans?" James said. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Don't swear, James. I'm in the competition too remember?"

"You?" Sirius scoffed. "You don't actually think you'll win, do you?"

Lily's back stiffened. "I've got as much chance as you have, Black," she snapped. "And that isn't saying much."

"Well, don't expect our help," Sirius warned, "because we're in this to win it."

"As if I would need your help. Besides, from where I was standing a few moments ago, it looked to me like you were the one crawling all over the floor begging for help."

And so the two began squabbling like schoolchildren, tossing insults at each other. James remained quiet. Though he wouldn't say it to Sirius, he actually would've liked having Evans there with them. She was very good at all their classes. And she was a much better sight to stare at than Sirius. But, as Sirius had said, they were in this to win it.

The three walked together for a few more minutes until they came to a crossing passageway, at which Evans went right and James and Sirius went left. James spared her one last glance over his shoulder, watching as her outline disappeared into the dense fog. Sirius was muttering to himself about know-it-alls and annoyances.

"You know, we could've used her help, Sirius. She's brilliant in class," James pointed out.

"I'm not going to let her come along just because you fancy her," Sirius said.

James blushed. "I don't fancy her," he muttered.

"Oh, come off it, James. You've fancied her since you fell on her on the Hogwarts Express. We all know that you think about her all the time. You draw her initials on all your parchment with big hearts around them. If you could, you'd have a bloody poster made of her to hang above your bed! Go on. Admit it." James sullenly refused to answer. "We all see it," Sirius continued persistently. "Especially when you ditch us, your three best mates in the world, to flirt with her."  
"I just thought that maybe"

"That maybe you'd catch a quick snog in a dark corner while no one's looking?"

James shoved Sirius playfully and they both laughed. The sound, however, was soon drowned out by an unearthly scream from the other direction. The boys stared at each other for a few moments, mouths agape.

"Evans," they breathed together. They bolted back down the hallway, Their footsteps fell heavily on the hard concrete, causing an echo that disappeared into the thick fog. It seemed to take forever to retrace their steps, and they both panted heavily from the exertion.

James stumbled to a halt when he spotted Evans. She was on the ground, kicking at what appeared to be ghouls of some sort. Their bodies glowed a sickening green and it seemed as though they were half rotten. One of her hands was reaching for her wand, which had skidded across the floor while the other barely held the ghoul at bay. It leered at her, cackling and snapping its few remaining teeth at her. Another of the ghouls loped over and grabbed her wand just as her fingertips reached it. It smirked down at her triumphantly.

James turned to Sirius, who was staring at the scene before him, obviously dumbstruck. "Well, don't just stand there!" he shouted. "We have to do something!"

"Bloody ghouls," he heard Sirius mutter.

James raised his wand and pointed at the ghoul who had Lily's wand. "_Expelliarmus!_" he roared, and watched as the ghoul's head snapped up at the sound of his voice and Lily's wand flew out of its hand. It looked mildly surprised before it let out an angry roar and began to slowly stalk James. "Get the other one!" he called to Sirius. The other ghoul, at the first sign of trouble, had begun to drag Lily down the hallway and away from her rescuers. She wouldn't go quietly, however. She kicked at the ghoul, who dodged her attacks, but barely.

James' situation was becoming worse by the moment. The ghoul that he'd disarmed was over twice his size and, if he wasn't much mistaken, _very_ pissed off. James' only advantages were being smaller and quicker. His mind raced, but he couldn't think of a single spell that could help him in this situation. He ducked under the ghoul's outstretched arms for a third time and ran to the other side of the hallway. His arm bumped quite painfully against the suit of armor there and he shot it an annoyed glance.

It was then that he noticed the dagger that the suit of armor held. Granted, it would be dull, but it was the best idea he had.

He grasped the dagger and pulled. The suit of armor pulled back. James pulled again, but the suit of armor forcefully refused to relinquish its weapon.

"I only need to borrow it!" James insisted, pulling again at the dagger. It resisted for only a moment before pulling free. He brandished it at the ghoul, who eyed it warily and growled menacingly at him.

James thrust the dagger at the ghoul, which avoided it easily. After a few minutes of this useless maneuvering, James thought it safe to spare Sirius and Lily a glance. Sirius was prodding the first ghoul with his wand, making large, painful-looking boils appear. Lily was yelling at him, telling him what spells to use.

"Evans!" Sirius finally yelled, having had enough of Lily's shouting. "Will you shut the bloody hell up? You're not helping!"

Lily crossed her arms, sniffed haughtily, but said no more.

One quick glance, it turned out, was too much when dealing with a ghoul. Before James had a chance to react, the ghoul had all but wrestled him to the floor. Desperately, he lashed out with the dagger, and to his amazement, felt it connect solidly.

He pulled back in time to see the shock on the ghoul's face. He'd sliced the ghouls' arm; a semi-deep gash could be seen clearly and blood was beginning to gather rather quickly.

James stared in open-mouthed shock as the creature jerked away from him abruptly and retreated down the hallway. When it neared Sirius, Lily, and the other ghoul, it began screeching. The other ghoul looked up, obviously understanding, and screeched back before it turned and fled down the hallway, disappearing into the fog.

The ghoul that James had fought paused when it reached Lily and Sirius. It looked at them both in turn before it flashed its rotten teeth at Sirius in what could possibly pass for a smile, and scooped him easily off his feet.

He struggled, but the ghoul had grabbed him from behind and he couldn't get his wand around to defend himself.

"Get off me!" he bellowed. "Get off, you stinking, rotting excuse for a creature!" The ghoul ignored him and continued down the hallway the same direction the other ghoul had run.

James ran to Lily and helped her up off the floor. "You all right?" he asked, giving her a once-over.

"Yeah," she said, obviously shaken, "yeah, I'm fine. But Sirius!" They both turned to look down the hallway. The fog was still, giving the barest ripple when a slight breeze blew through the corridors.

"Dammit!" James roared angrily. "I can't believe it took Sirius!"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt him, working for Dumbledore right? It probably took him back to the Great Hall."

"Yeah, but we were supposed to win this together!" James stormed. "And now he's gone and got carried offand he has the _map_!"

"Map?"

"Yeah!" He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "We made a whole bunch of blueprints of the castle so we wouldn't get lost. Sirius has them."

"Well," Lily said carefully, "that was a good idea, but James, we're only First Years. I'd bet almost anything that it's going to be a Fifth Year or older who wins this." James scowled at the floor, but said nothing. "Come on," Lily said. "We can at least finish, can't we?"

They walked along in silence for a few minutes. Both had their wands out.

"So," James ventured, clearing his throat, "you, er, into Quidditch at all, Evans?"

"Well," Lily said softly, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her, "being from a Muggle family, I don't know much about it."

"Really?" James said, a little too eagerly. "Well, you just happen to be walking next to an expert." So, to pass the time, he explained the rules of Quidditch and why, in his opinion, it was the best sport in the world.

Somewhere in the castle, a clock chimed. Going to the dungeons, James and Lily decided, hadn't been one of Sirius' best ideas. Then again, James mused, Lily didn't like any of Sirius' ideas. Mainly because she didn't like Sirius.

"So," he said conversationally, "what, uhwhat is it that you have against Sirius, anyway?" Using his peripheral vision, he saw her eyes narrow.

"He's arrogant, insensitive, has no respect for authority, picks on people he considers below him, doesn't care about his studies, and thinks it's funny to throw dungbombs in the girls' lavatory."

James flinched at this. "Well," he said carefully, "he's not all bad, you know. He has a brilliant sense of humor and he's really loyal. And he only picks on people who deserve it for one reason or another. He's smart, too. Very smart. Sure, he can be arrogant and insensitive, but that's just part of who he is. Accept the bad with the good, I always say."

"I don't know why you bother with him. The two of you are nothing alike." When he looked at her strangely, she continued. "You're not! For instance, on the train. He never would've let Peter in if it hadn't been for you. " She slanted him a look. "Why _did_ you let Peter in?"

"Well, for you, I suppose," James said honestly.

"For me?"

"Well, yeah. There you were looking at me with these puppy dog eyes and your hair all mussed from where I'd fallen on you, all but begging for me to let Pete in. How can a bloke possibly say no to that?"

Lily blushed to the roots of her auburn hair.

"Did I embarrass you?" he asked, studying her. She shook her head.

"I suppose I'm flattered," she said, not looking him in the eye. He smiled to himself. Here he was, flirting with a beautiful girl, and he hadn't blushed or stuttered once!

"So why do you still hang out with Peter?" she asked suddenly. "It's not for me, I hope. That would be unfair to him."

James shook his head and smiled. "Nah. You're not that great," he teased. "Pete's not so bad, you know. He kind of tags along with Sirius and I, which is sort of a bother, but he's OK. He's loyal, which is important. He'd do anything for us. He's good comic relief sometimes, too. Like the other night! You should've been there, Evans." He told her all about the suit of armor incident, and after scolding him mildly for breaking the rules, she laughed right along with him.

"Yes, quite the humorous sight, wasn't it?" a surly voice intruded. "I would've found it much more amusing myself had the suit of armor managed to strangle Pettigrew. Imagine. Death by suit of armor."

The malicious voice belonged to none other than Severus Snape. He had stepped out of an empty classroom several feet ahead of them.

"Yes, well, many of us would find it humorous if your nose grew to twice the size of your head but—wait—it's already done that."

"James," Lily reprimanded softly.

"So it was _you_ I saw creep around that corner," James realized suddenly. He'd nearly forgotten the shadow he'd seen, but now he remembered clearly.

Snape laughed, low and humorless. "I'm surprised to find you so observant. Yes, I'd seen you sneaking down the hallway, confident that you were smart enough not to get caught. Seems to me that you weren't so smart after all."

"What did you do to that suit of armor to get it to attack Peter?" James demanded angrily.

Snape's grin widened. "Brilliant, wasn't it? It was a combination of several potions and spells I learned from my father–how to make magically enchanted items obey. I simply instructed it to attack the next person to cross its path. Little did I know that that idiot Pettigrew would try and climb inside it!" Now Snape was laughing for real.

"You'd have felt like a right ass if we'd turned around before reaching it and someone else—Dumbledore or Filch—had walked by it."

Snape shook his head in disappointment. "Ah, but Potter, there was always a back-up plan. That was why I waited around that corner for one of you to get caught. I'd honestly hoped that it would've been you or Black, but I must admit Pettigrew was quite worth the effort. Besides, if you had walked away, I would have simply lifted the enchantment."

James was quiet for a moment. "You're going to pay for that, Snivellus," he promised quietly.

"Is that so?" Snape taunted.

"Leave it alone, James," Lily interjected. "We can tell McGonagall or Dumbledore and get him detention or something. I'm sure that knowingly endangering another student is"

But James' arm had already shot up and his wand was inches from Snape's face. He saw Snapes' smile falter, but only for a moment.

"Going to hex me, Potter?" he sneered.

Lily put her hands on James' wand arm. "James, stop," she pleaded. James' eyes ticked over to her face. Her beautiful green eyes were practically begging him. He slowly lowered his arm, glaring at Snape all the while, and allowed Lily to maneuver him away.

"Poor Petrified Potter," Snape hissed at his back.

And with that, James had had enough. He whipped around and raised his wand, but Snape was faster. The tip of Snape's wand was all but touching James' nose. "I wouldn't if I were you," Snape warned. "Unlike you, I don't have a Mudblood girlfriend to stop me. I _will_ hex you." He tapped James on the nose with his wand. "Now run along, Potter. Before you or your Mudblood are humiliated any further."

"Call her that once more, Snivellus, and you'll regret that you were ever born nearly as much as the rest of us do," James snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Tell me, how does it feel to know that your parents think of you as nothing more than the bane of their existence?"

"James!" Lily said in a horrified whisper.

"Come on, Severus. We've all heard the stories," James persisted. Snape's breathing had become shallow and his nostrils flared furiously.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Potter," Snape spat, his wand arm shaking.

James had never been deliberately hurtful to anyone before, but the word 'Mudblood,' Slytherins, the Dark Arts, and especially any combination of the three made his blood boil. Throwing all caution to the wind, he dove at Snape, who let out a surprised 'Oof' as the wind was knocked out of him. They struggled on the floor, grappling with each other fiercely. Lily stood over them, wringing her hands and yelling at them to stop.

"_Stupefy!_" Snape yelled, and a jet of red light flew out of his wand and brushed past James' shoulder. James' fist connected with Snape's face just as he heard a loud 'THUMP' from behind him. Still holding a struggling Snape, he looked for the source. Lily lay, motionless on the floor. She'd been hit by Snape's stunner.

"Damn!" he yelled, throwing Snape away from him and kneeling over Lily. "Lily! Hey, Evans! Wake up! Shit." He looked up and saw Snape run around the corner in a flurry of robes.

A gong sounded throughout the castle, signaling that the winning competitor had finished. The competition was over, he had lost, Sirius had gotten carried away, and he had an unconscious witch on his hands. Not one of his best days.


	7. Magical Means

Chapter Seven: Magical Means 

Several minutes after the competition ended, James still sat kneeling over Evans trying to revive her. He swore that, had he known the wand movements for the countercurse, he would have used them immediately. But things like that just weren't learned until third year or so. He looked up when he heard footsteps walking down the hallway (which was now clear of any remnants of fog or smoke). They were McGonagall and Dumbledore's, who were followed by a very cross-looking Sirius. When they saw him leaning over Lily, they hurried over to him.

"What's happened to her?" Dumbledore asked, leaning down.

"Snivellus—er—Snape hit her with a stunning spell. I don't know the wand movements, Professor."

"Ennervate." Dumbledore said softly, and Lily's eyes snapped open. She groaned, closing them again. "I imagine you hit your head quite hard when you fell, Miss Evans. I daresay you have a concussion."

"Can Madam Pomfrey do anything to fix her?" James asked, concerned.

"Madam Pomfrey, I have long since decided, can do just about anything, James." Dumbledore told him with a wink. Dumbledore levitated Lily and they all followed him on the way to the Hospital Wing.

"Oy, Professor!" Sirius said, studying Dumbledore.

"Yes, Mr. Black?"

"Where'd you get all those red dots on your face?"

"Why, from you of course." Dumbledore said, grinning at Sirius. Sirius' eyes widened comically, and James' eyes flew to Professor McGonagall's arm. He could just see the tip of a white bandage under the sleeve of her torn robes.

"You were…we…" James stammered foolishly.

"Looks like brute force works nearly as well as advanced magic, Mr. Potter. Don't expect congratulations." McGonagall said sternly, but James could have sworn he saw her smile as she turned away from him.

"You say it was Snape who" Sirius whispered at James. He nodded and their eyes met; unspoken understanding passed between the boys. They were both fully aware of what would come next: Retaliation.

"I can't believe you tackled him!" Peter said in awe.

"I can't believe you haven't got detention." Remus said.

"I wasn't really thinking." James confessed.

"Too right, you weren't." Sirius said disapprovingly.

"I'd think that you'd be happy I gave Snivellus a fat lip."

"I can't believe you didn't curse him when you had the chance! He was right there! _Right. There_. You had him at the tip of your wand and let some bird"

"Speaking of some bird," James interrupted what he was sure would be a long tirade about the evils of Severus and women, "I'm going to go see how Lily's doing." He stood up, heading for the portrait hole.

"Lily is it, now? Abandoning his mates for a girl. This, gentlemen, is how it starts." He heard Sirius saying to Remus and Peter.

James hadn't seen Lily since the incident with Snape. He did, however, find out from Alice Arthurs that she was in the library studying.

"But she won't want to see you." Alice had said haughtily with a flip of her chestnut hair. James frowned. _Why the bloody hell not_?

He found her at a corner table with books piled high around her. She was chewing thoughtfully on the end of her quill.

"All right, Evans?" he said cheerfully. She looked up, narrowed her eyes, and went back to reading as though he wasn't there. Confused, he took a seat across from her. "That must be some book you're reading." When she didn't say anything, he tried again. "Oy, what's up with you? Did dinner make you sick or something?"

"The company, James, is what makes me sick." She snapped. Taken aback, he looked around the library.

"Did Snivellus just leave or something? I'll hex him if you want me to."

"Why don't you just go hex yourself?" she snapped again.

"Why would I do a thing like that?" James asked, completely lost.

"Because it would save me the trouble."

James studied the top of her head for a few moments. "Are you having your monthly then?" he asked seriously. Her head jerked up and she stared at him slack-jawed.

"Am I…"

"Oh, come on, Evans. Don't be a prude. I do have a mother you know. I know all about the evil side of women that tends to come out once in a while. If that's the problem, you could just ask me to leave." Lily took a calming breath before she answered him.

"No, James. That is not my problem. My problem is you."

"Me?" James asked, perplexed. "What about me? I thought we were friends. I thought"

"Thought what?" Lily said angrily. "That you taking the mickey out of someone about their parents would impress me? That I think it's funny to make someone feel like something you stepped in while at a kennel?"

"That's what this is about? What I said to Snivellus? Look, Lily…"

"Save it, James." Lily said, raising her hand. "I thought you were different, but you're just like Sirius and the rest of the egotistical pompous…_bastards_ around here. And I want nothing more to do with you. In fact," she stood up and gathered what books she could carry, "I don't know why I did in the first place." She stomped out of the library, drawing irritated looks from Madam Pince. James sat where he was, in shock. Where had that come from? He had defended her from Snivellus and she was acting like he had committed some horrible crime. Like…like he'd kicked her puppy or something! He didn't know how long he sat there, staring at her empty seat before he trudged back up to the Gryffindor common room. Sirius waved at him from across the room.

"Oy! James! Get your fat arse over here right this instant!" he demanded. James trod wearily through the common room and collapsed in an armchair beside Remus.

"What's happened, then?" Remus asked carefully. James shook his head.

"I have no bloody clue. I don't get birds!"

"Who does?" Sirius asked no one in particular.

"I mean, one minute you're talking and having a good time, and then you go and defend her honor, and she tells you that you're a bleeding arsehole who doesn't know his dick from a stick in the woods!" James continued as though Sirius hadn't spoken.

"Evans said that?" Remus asked, clearly impressed.

"Well, not those exact words," James admitted, "but that was the idea of it!"

"It's her loss." Sirius said sincerely. "Really, who needs birds when you've got your two best mates here?"

"Three!" Peter said indignantly.

"Three." Sirius agreed.

"But it just doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, what happened? Maybe we can help you figure it out." Remus suggested empathetically.

"We were walking together during the competition when Snivellus came out of nowhere and started throwing all these insults,"

"At whom?"

"Well, first at Pete because of the whole incident with the suit of armor…"

"Snape knows about that? How?" Sirius said dropping the quill he'd been tearing apart.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" James said, sitting up straighter, "I thought I saw him creeping around the corner the night it happened, but then I completely forgot about it!"

"How could you?" Sirius said, shocked that such vital information had not been passed on to him. "We could've been torturing him for days and had a good reason, too!"

"Well, I know, but like I said…I forgot." James said lamely.

"I thought we were talking about your problems with Evans," Remus pointed out, trying to steer the conversation away from Severus Snape.

"Right. So anyway, I started insulting him back and then he called Evans a Mudblood, and I got right pissed and started in on his mum and dad, and how they hated him and…"

"Wait a second. You said this to his face? With Evans standing there?" Remus held up his hand. Everyone knew about Snape's family problems, but no one really talked about them in the open. It was public knowledge how dysfunctional the Snape household was.

"Yeah., so?" James asked, missing the implication.

"Well, there's your problem. You stooped down to his level in front of Evans, who just won't have that kind of thing. That's what she's wound up about." Remus said.

"Well," James said at length, "that's not something you can make up for with an apology is it?"

Remus shook his head; he felt awful for James. Everyone who knew James knew that he had a crush on Lily Evans, even if James wasn't ready to admit it. Remus had no idea where things would go from here, but he completely agreed with James. An apology just wouldn't do this time. "She's going to hate me forever." James said as if the sudden realization dawned on him. "For what I said. She will."

"Maybe not forever." Remus tried. "Maybe she'll just hate you until the end of the year. Or term even."

"I think he's right. She'll hate him forever."

All eyes turned to Peter who flushed a deep red and pretended to pick lint from his clothing.

"Thanks for helping, Pete." Remus said, annoyed. Usually he was more patient with Peter than James, or especially Sirius, but their friend was close to having an emotional breakdown of sorts, and Peter was running off at the mouth. "Now why don't you do us all a favor and not talk?" Peter shrunk down further into his chair than he already was and his lower lip poked out, but he said no more.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Potter," Sirius said, "Think of this all in a positive manner."

"Positive? How can Evans hating me possibly be positive?"

"Well," Sirius said, considering this, "if she already hates you then you can't feel guilty when you help us get back at Snivellus! There'll be no worrying that Evans will find out and hates you, because she already does!"

Sirius's twisted form of logic had them all mesmerized, but after a few seconds, James began to nod.

"You know what? You're right. She can't possibly hate me any more than she does now so I can do whatever I want to old Snivellus!" he said, face brightening. Remus nearly groaned.

"We can't do _whatever_ we want to him," he tried.

"No, no. Sirius is right," James said, jumping up suddenly out of his seat, "Snivellus Snape hasn't heard the last from me. We're just getting started. No more blatant physical attacks. We're going to hit him when and where he least expects it. This is all his fault. Oh, yes." Sirius' eyes blazed triumphantly and even Peter looked somehow bettered by James' impassioned speech.

"Oh, no." Remus groaned, covering his eyes.

The next few days, despite Remus' many protests, were nearly completely dedicated to the plan to bring one Severus Snape to his bony knees. No detail, however insignificant, was overlooked. Teachers were ignored, parchment was wasted, and a person's very existence was doomed by two plotting boys with brilliant minds and a vendetta. Scores would be settled, lies would be told, mayhem would ensue, and Remus Lupin could do _nothing_ but sit back and watch, making the occasional objection.

"Could you at least pretend to pay attention?" Remus asked. Sirius and James never really paid attention in any of their classes, but today they'd been so loud that they'd made the Charms teacher stutter twice while he'd been explaining levitation charms. Sirius looked affronted.

"These are very sensitive procedures." He explained patiently. "If we do something wrong, we're liable to make Snape's nose fall off rather than grow to the size of a kneazle. You wouldn't want that on your conscience would you, Remus?" Remus muttered to himself and flicked his wand, making his feather bounce jovially on his desk.

"It's more of a swish, Mr. Lupin, and then a flick." Professor Flitwick said, grinning. "Go ahead. Try it again." His tiny eyes ticked over to where James and Sirius were huddled low over a piece of parchment, talking in low voices. "Mr. Potter?" James looked up and straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose. He smiled.

"Yes, Professor?"

"What are we learning today?" Professor Flitwick asked tiredly.

"We're learning," he chanced a glance at the heading of Remus' notes, "levitating charms."

"Would you mind a small demonstration?" Flitwick asked, smiling pleasantly.

"Certainly." James said. He caught Lily's eye from across the room and his smile faltered. She was watching him, a disapproving look on her face. When his eyes caught hers, she looked away, shaking her head.

"Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick urged.

"Right then." James said, lifting his wand and pointing it at the black and tan feather before him, "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" His wand swished and flicked perfectly, and his feather floated seamlessly off his desk and rose high into the air. He was even competent enough to make it soar once around the room, tickling Flitwick under his chin playfully, before landing back on his desk.

"I say," Professor Flitwick said, astonished, "where did you learn that, Mr. Potter?"

"Well, when you said last week that we'd be starting levitation charms I sneaked a peek in our books. It isn't that difficult, really. It's all in the swish and flick." He winked at Professor Flitwick.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for your advanced knowledge in this subject today." Professor Flitwick said proudly.

"Where did you learn that?" Remus asked as they exited the Charms classroom. "Really?"

"Really? I read your notes yesterday while you and Sirius were playing Exploding Snap."

"But my notes didn't say anything about what you did in there. What _did_ you do in there?"

"I just embellished a bit on the swish and flick part. If you move your wand subtly while the feather's floating, you can manipulate it easily enough as long as you don't lose your concentration."

"How did you learn that?" Peter asked, clearly delighted at his friend's genius.

"Didn't really," James admitted. "Just sort of figured it out after the feather started floating."

"But, really James, don't we have more important things to discuss with our comrades here?" Sirius said, grinning.

"That we do, Sirius." He turned to Peter and Remus. "Tonight's the night."

"The night for what?" Pete asked stupidly. The other three boys stared at him incredulously, waiting for him to tell them that he was somehow having them on, that he wasn't really _that_ stupid.

"What've we been working on for the entire bloody day?" Sirius said, losing his patience.

"Oh."

"What do you mean 'tonight'?" Remus asked. "Please tell me you mean tonight as in just after dinner and not tonight as in after hours when Dumbledore said we'd be punished severely for being out of bed."

"The second one, I'm afraid." Sirius said, patting Remus on the back. "No worries. We've got it all figured out."

"Oh?" Remus said, deflating.

"All we need is a diversion. And this time we're using magical means." Sirius glared pointedly at James. "No more of this physical violence."

"I have an idea." Peter said suddenly. They all looked at him skeptically.

"Yes, Pete?" James urged.

"Well, what if we wait? Until after Christmas holidays. Snape will be expecting us to do something to him now. Maybe over the holidays he'll forget. Or something."

The other three boys stared at him for a moment, considering.

"He does have a point." Remus acknowledged, trying to stave off the plan as long as possible.

"Congratulations, Pete. You've redeemed yourself from the stupidity of your earlier comments." Sirius said. "Snape won't know what's hit him. And we'll have time over the break to research our plan further." James nodded.

"What if we all meet at my house? Spend the break there?" he offered.

"My parents will be thrilled," Sirius said, "They sent me an owl just the other day telling me to keep my disgraced Gryffindor self at Hogwarts."

"I dunno," Remus said haltingly.

"Oh, come on then, Remus," James said, his excitement mounting. "My mum loves fussing over people and my dad won't care. You _have_ to be there!"

"I suppose so. I'll have to ask my parents of course, and it would be cutting it rather close…" he said more to himself than anyone else.

"Close to what?" Peter asked.

"Oh…um…my mum's birthday."

"And you, Pete? You'll come as well?" James said, ignoring the look Sirius gave him.

"Definitely!" Peter said. "Mum will be ever so pleased that I've been invited somewhere! I've never been invited anywhere before!"

"This," James said gleefully, "is gonna be the best prank ever."

"The most well-researched, anyway." Remus said evenly, dreading the results of what would no doubt be a brilliant plan executed by Sirius and James after the holidays.


	8. Henry and Lilah Potter

Chapter Eight: Henry and Lilah Potter…

"My mum's fit to burst," James told the other three boys the next morning as his eyes scanned quickly over the letter before him. He'd sent Pluto yesterday evening, asking his parents if his friends could stay over the holidays. Remus and Peter had both borrowed school owls to ask their parents; Sirius hadn't bothered, but insisted that his parents would be thrilled when he didn't show up. "She's already started baking and fixing up the spare rooms. You two are coming as well?" he asked Peter and Remus.

"Yeah, but Mum isn't too happy." Remus sighed. "She and Dad think I'm cutting it close."

"Well we can help you find a great gift for her birthday." Sirius offered.

"My mum says I can go, but I have to write every day." Peter said, frowning.

"Have you got one of those flittery, protective mums then?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Peter sighed. "I don't rightly know how I'll remember to write her every day."

"Well, I'm sure Remus won't let you forget. He's the responsible one anyway." Sirius said, grinning at Remus, who flushed. He wasn't sure Sirius was complimenting or taking the mickey out of him, so he chose not to comment.

"Last day of classes before we leave," Sirius said, spreading his arms and inhaling deeply.

"Finally," James said with an exaggerated sigh. "I couldn't take another week of this learning. It's brutal."

"How can it be brutal when you don't even pay attention?" Remus wondered, earning a half-hearted glare from James.

"I'll have you know that I make very high marks."

"I never said you didn't. I merely pointed out that you never do actual class work while we're in class. And you leave all your homework to the last minute." Remus argued. James waved his hand dismissively.

"It gets done and it's right. Stop being such a prude, Remus."

Remus frowned. "I'm not a prude."

"You're about halfway there." Sirius said, pulling a crumbling sandwich from the folds of his robes. Remus frowned again.

Their first class, Potions, was fairly uneventful (With the exception of the dungbombs that James threw at the Slytherins. He honestly hadn't _meant_ to hit Professor Dennison with one). Defense Against the Dark Arts was, as always, a very interesting lesson. James had gotten past his original annoyance at Professor Inglewood being a female, and it was now one of his favorite classes.

Nearly all of Professor Inglewood's lessons were oral. She'd started the year out with a brief history of the Dark Arts. From there, they'd moved on to learning different kinds of defense. There was, of course, magical, and then there was physical, mental, and emotional. James hadn't realized that witches and wizards had so many ways to harm each other!

Today, even though it was the last day of the term, they were beginning a new lesson: learning how physical scars left by magic could sometimes also tie into a person mentally and emotionally.

"Like any physical scar or mark, a magical scar is easily seen. What is sometimes more _difficult_ to see is the emotional or mental scarring that a person can have as a result of a magical attack or defense. All people, Muggles included, have emotional and mental scars left behind by people, or difficult times in their lives. Some spells, however, may cause similar damage with a simple word or phrase." Professor Inglewood told them.

Though her oral lessons were very interesting (not at all like Professor Binns, who could make rain of toads or flesh-eating sea dragons mundane…if there were such things), she remained very serious. You never saw her smile or heard her crack a joke. And James had tried. He'd tried every joke and stunt that he could think of, but she would merely blink at him and continue the lesson.

"Many studies suggest that two beings being linked one way or another with magic isn't as uncommon as you might think. All these bonds are different, however, so it's hard to pick out any one pattern." She paused. "Can anyone tell me one magical link between two people that we _do_ have a word for? Muggles, though as a rule are non-magical, also feel this. Anyone? No? _Love._ Love is a type of magic that Wizards and Muggles alike feel, though neither can explain where it comes from. Two people who share this kind of connection strongly are sometimes affectionately called 'soul mates.' Not all such connections are good, however. In fact, most are highly negative to both parties involved. Sometimes enemies can share a magical bond closer than most. Imagine for a moment that you are dueling with another wizard, an enemy of sorts, and one of his spells slips though your defenses. This may cause the link between you to intensify, though neither of you wishes it. How this link manifests itself varies. You could merely be able to feel each other's presence constantly to being able to read one another's minds at will. Now over the break, I would like you to think seriously on this subject and be ready to discuss it on the first day of class. Until then I want you to split up into groups and discuss this."

"Defense Against the Arts was the most interesting lesson…" Remus all but gushed as they left Transfiguration later that day.

"I think it's all rubbish." Sirius said archly.

"Imagine for a moment that you and Snape have on of those links. Do you really want him reading your mind?" Remus asked.

"Well that would be bloody marvelous!" Sirius said.

"Marvelous?" Remus repeated dumbly.

"Well if he could read my mind then I could insult him constantly without getting into trouble!" Sirius said, grinning. Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then something occurred to him.

"But he'd also know things like when you wanted a wank or how you wonder what a girl's wearing under her shirt."

"I think we've had a bad influence on you," said James, laughing at the look of abject horror on Sirius' face. Remus smiled happily.

"Becoming a cheeky little bastard aren't you?" Sirius said before he all but pounced on Remus. Books and parchment flew everywhere. Remus, laughing, buckled under Sirius's weight, and crumpled to the floor. "I'll teach you some manners!" Sirius was bellowing, lightly pummeling Remus's back and shoulders. Then, slowly, the pummeling died off and Sirius was quiet.

Remus craned his neck, trying to see Sirius.

"What the bloody hell?" Sirius said and tugged on Remus's shirt, exposing the majority of his back. Remus panicked, knowing what Sirius had seen. He squirmed, trying to pull down his shirt and get Sirius off at the same time. But by now both James and Peter had seen too.

"Remus!" James gasped, dropping to his knees by his friend. "What the bleeding hell happened to your back?" Remus closed his eyes, not knowing what to say. He knew what they saw. White, puckered, ugly scars covered most of his back. Some, it was obvious, were old, but many were new and still angry and red.

"It looks like someone's beaten you!" Peter said, staring, unable to tear his gaze away.

"With a razor strap!" Sirius said in horror.

"Let me up, Sirius," he said softly, saying each word carefully. Sirius obeyed, sliding off Remus. The boys all stood and he straightened his shirt and, trying to be as dignified as he could, he turned to face them. The looks on their faces cased bile to rise in his throat. A mixture of curiosity, disgust, and worst yet: pity.

"Remus," Sirius said quietly. He seemed the most disturbed. "What did that to…"

"I don't want to talk about it." Remus said quietly, looking at the floor.

"But"

"James!" Remus snapped. "I don't want to talk about it." He said in what he hoped was a voice that brooked no argument. He gathered his books from where they were scattered on the floor. Before walking away he stopped, but didn't turn to face them when he spoke. "Save me a seat at the lunch table. I'm going to put my books back in my trunk."

James, Sirius, and Peter silently watched Remus maneuver through the crowd until finally he disappeared around a corner. All were stunned silent by what they had seen. As with all rare occasions, this didn't last long.

"What the bloody hell's going on? That's what I'd like to know!" Sirius said, turning to the other two.

"Well we don't know either," Peter said defensively. Sirius gave him a look that suggested that he wasn't surprised by Peter's lack of knowledge.

"I-I-I don't even…I can't even think." James confessed. He looked at Sirius. "His parents?"

"Nah," Sirius waved him off. "He's mad about his parents. You've heard him prattling on about them as much as I have. Besides, a lot of those were new, and I'm guessing, sore."

"Hmm," was all Peter said. This, more than anything, caught the attention of the other two. Right about now was when Pete started making dumb comments. Only he didn't. All he said was 'Hmm.'

"What aren't you saying, Peter?" Sirius asked. Peter shook his head, muttering something about promising not to tell anyone. "Peter," Sirius all but growled.

"Pete," James said reasonably, stepping between Sirius and Peter. "If someone's doing that to Remus, we need to know."

"Well," Peter started, his eyes darting around. "I don't know if it has anything to do with…anything."

"Just tell us, Pete. You know we won't say anything. We're your best mates."

"Well, ok…ok, but you have to swear not to say anything to Remus!" James and Sirius nodded. "Well I just thought that maybe…" he licked his lips, "that maybe those marks had something to do with his being in the hospital wing."

"When was Remus in the hospital wing?" James asked, his concern for his friend mounting.

"Well often apparently." Peter said. "Remember a couple of weeks ago when I wasn't feeling well because of the smell in the greenhouses?" James and Sirius nodded. "I went to the hospital wing and before I could say anything Madam Pomfrey starts blathering about how wonderful it is that I've come to see Remus since no one ever does and how he's always talking to her about us. I didn't know what to do, and she pulled back this curtain and there lay Remus looking like death warmed over. He was so embarrassed and kept apologizing for my having to see him that way. Then he made me promise not to tell you that he'd been there." Peter finished with a shrug. "So I didn't."

"Hang on…" James said suddenly. "Wasn't that when Remus went home for his great-uncle's funeral or something?"

"That's right! He missed class for nearly three days!" Sirius said, remembering.

"In fact," James said slowly, his eyes unfocused, "Remus has missed class for about three days _every_ month!" The three boys stared at each other, perplexed.

"Something's amok here, and we're bloody well going to find out what it is. No one hurts our Remus." Sirius said with a frown. "Unless it's us," he amended.

They got up early enough the next morning to pack their trunks with the belongings that they'd be taking with them over the break. Wrapping their scarves tight around their necks to keep out the biting cold, they walked with the throng of students to the waiting Hogwarts Express. Smoke billowed out of the top as the magnificent scarlet steam engine chugged away from the platform. There was much more room on the train since not all of the students went home for the holidays and many students made the most of it, taking up entire compartments for as little as two people. Many of these were couples who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, which Peter realized the hard way. He walked back into the compartment that he was sharing with Remus, James, and Sirius clutching his nose which was bleeding profusely.

"What's happened to your face, Peter?" Remus said, shoving a handkerchief at him.

"I walked in on Frank Longbottom snogging Alice Arthurs when I was looking for the loo," he said, dabbing at his nose.

"Longbottom and Arthurs?" Sirius said, grinning. "Really? Well _that's_ something you don't see every day. Can you imagine what their children would be like?"

"Incredibly boring, brilliant, and gorgeous to boot?" James drawled, thinking of the witch and wizard in question.

"I can't pass up an opportunity like this!" Sirius said, standing up. "It's not often that you find a reason to take the mickey out of those two Perfect Prefects! I'm off!" he bounded happily out of the compartment. Remus chuckled, shaking his head.

"Think he'll come back with a bloody nose as well?" James asked, staring at the door.

"Nah," Remus said with an unworried shrug, "for some reason that I can't possibly fathom, Frank likes Sirius. Why else would he put up with him?"

"Why do _we_ put up with him?" James joked.

"You have me there, old man." Remus agreed.

Sirius came back about thirty minutes later, grinning foolishly.

"That's something that you'll never forget." He sighed happily, throwing himself onto the seat beside James and sprawling his back across James' legs. James looked down at him, disgruntled, and shoved him off. Sirius hit the floor with a thump, but didn't seem to care.

"What's that?" Remus asked cautiously.

"I walked in just as Longbottom was reaching up Arthurs' skirt." Sirius snickered, standing up and sitting by James again. "You've never seen someone in such a fury! Longbottom was shouting and Arthurs was screaming and trying to push her skirt down. She walked right out of that compartment, saying that if Franky couldn't control his friends, then he could just find someone else to snog from now on."

"Did he hit you?" Peter asked, fingering his swollen nose.

"Hit me? Of course not." Sirius said, rejecting the idea as ludicrous. "He did, however, find himself obligated to explain to me that when a bloke is snogging a bird, that it was just bad form to walk in and start making lude remarks about her state of undress. Of course, then he had to go and find Arthurs to apologize and beg her to come back to the compartment. He told me if I was there when he got back that he'd hex me into next week."

"Were you there when he got back?" James asked, though he figured he already knew the answer.

"Well of course I was," Sirius said. "Where else would I be?"

"Well you obviously aren't hexed into next week." Remus said with a smile.

"The minute Arthurs saw me, her face got all red and she started shoving at Longbottom and yelling again. Longbottom shouted at me and I believe I made a comment about whether or not Arthurs had a friend that would be as willing to snog me. She was furious! Asked if I was calling her a trollop. Well, of course, I'd said nothing of the sort and told her as much. She didn't buy it for a second. She shouted a bit more, and told Longbottom that he could look her up when he'd gotten rid of me for good. I left just after that. Poor Franky can only handle so much you know," he said. "He's delicate." James and Peter joined Sirius in a hearty laugh while Remus shook his head and chuckled.

"So what are your parents like, Potter?" Sirius asked. James shrugged.

"Like any, I suppose. My mum's a bit strict, but as long as I plead my case to Dad, it's usually not so bad. She makes excellent food, though. She doesn't like to use her wand to do it either." At the astonished looks on the other boys' faces, he nodded. "She says it taints the flavoring. She uses her hands mostly."

"Her hands?" Sirius' upper lip curled. "Is that sanitary?"

"Well, she cleans them first, you dolt," James said in exasperation. "You'll love her food. Everyone does."

"What's your Dad do for a living?" Remus asked.

"He works for the Ministry in the Magical Games and Sports Department. He's been working for a while to try and get the Quidditch World Cup held in England, but the Bulgarians are putting up some sort of fuss, insisting that since they've won the Cup the last two years running, that they should host. Dad's having a right fit."

"Whoa. I'd love to see the Quidditch World Cup held in England. Can you imagine? The Daily Prophet would be all over that story!" Sirius said, his eyes glazing over.

The rest of the ride to Platform 9 and ¾ was filled with talk of Quidditch. None of the boys were on the house team, as they were first years, but James had confessed that he'd loved playing since he was a child, and had every intention of trying out for the team the next year. He told them that since his dad was in the Magical Games and Sports Department, they had quite a few extra brooms lying about and they could play a small game of Quidditch over the break as long as the weather cooperated.

The train slowly came to a stop and the boys grabbed their trunks, James grabbed Pluto, and they went to meet Mr. and Mrs. Potter; they were exactly as James had described them. Henry Potter was a tall man with broad shoulders and a friendly face. He was smiling ear-to-ear and waving frantically; his hair was messy like his son's, but was a light brown, rather than James' black, though Henry's was showing a few spots of grey around the edges, the only hint as to his age. His eyes were the same brown as his son's. Lilah Potter was a gorgeous woman. Sirius nearly tripped when she waved at him (He didn't bother to think that she was perhaps waving at her son). Her hair was worn long, nearly to the middle of her back, and was as black as night; her eyes were violet, a rare color that seemed to be a dominant gene with the women of her family.

"Hello, sweetheart," she said, opening her arms.

"Mum," James complained, but let his mother envelope him in a hug. Sirius shot him a look. Didn't James realize how lucky he was?

"Didn't I tell you that you'd make friends straight off?" his dad was saying, beaming at the other three boys. "Didn't I tell you?" He didn't give James a chance to answer. "Henry Potter." He said, extending his hand to each of the boys in turn. He shook their hands so hard that it felt like he was trying to jerk their arms out of their sockets. "I told him that he'd meet friends straight off." Sirius thought that perhaps James's father was a bit mad. Remus thought he was quite wonderful, and Peter thought that maybe going to stay with them was a mistake. All he could think was that they must hate him. Why wouldn't they? He was ugly and fat and stupid and no one should like him anyway. He felt his chin quiver and promised himself not to cry.

Unaware of Peter's self-conflict; the rest of the group gathered their things and started walking for Muggle London. They took a cab to the Leaky Cauldron (something neither Peter nor Sirius had ever done before) and went to Diagon Alley where they could Floo to James's house.

"Just say Potters' Paddock." Henry leaned down and whispered to the boys.

"Our home is not called Potters' Paddock, Henry," Lilah said pleasantly, having heard his whispered instructions. Henry straightened up, frowning.

"It is so, because that's what I've named it." He argued. Lilah smiled over at him.

"We aren't naming our house, Henry."

"I don't see why not. All wizards should name their houses," he muttered. "It's what's fashionable."

"Some silly man at your father's work has decided to name his house after a rat's home and now he wants to follow suit." Lilah explained amiably to her son with a sigh, as though explaining her husband's odd actions.

"His name is Arthur, Lilah, and he is not silly," Henry protested. "And his house is called the Burrow. It's wonderful. You just say 'The Burrow' when you want to go there by floo powder and it takes you straight there. You don't have to say an address or anything." He frowned at his wife again. "Can we please call it Potters' Paddock?" he pleaded. Lilah shook her head no. "If you pick the name?" Henry said suddenly. "Yes! You could name it anything you wanted…" But his wife was still shaking her head. "Bugger." He muttered to himself as he stepped into the fireplace.


End file.
